


Rosy Gaze or Pink Haze, Either Way You're in Love

by wecarryoninmindpalaces



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence, M/M, Misunderstandings happen, Not so much oblivious as not paying attention, Oblivious Victor Nikiforov, Pining Katsuki Yuuri, Romantic Soulmates, You'll see what I mean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-07
Packaged: 2018-09-22 07:18:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9590996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wecarryoninmindpalaces/pseuds/wecarryoninmindpalaces
Summary: When you see your soulmate for the first time, a pink tinge occurs around the edges of your sightline and only strengthens the more you see them.It's like a homing device; so upon a major life event (such as a first kiss, consummation, engagement, or something to that intensity.) the color is nearly blinding and then disappears. Congratulations you've found your soulmate, go live your lives!Only Victor Nikiforov never experienced that first part and Katsuki Yuuri never knew that last part.





	1. Eleven Years

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be a oneshot, but it's getting too long so it'll be a twoshot! I love soulmate AUs, but never found the right way to write one until now. Or I hope so, anyway. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Katsuki Yuuri's first encounter with his soulmate is at age twelve, if he could even call it that, when Yuuko pops in a tape of a Russian boy's senior Grand Prix debut. He thinks it's a trick of the eye, until the next time they watch the haze is slightly more saturated in color. He asks Yuuko who he is and she says something that doesn't sound right on their native tongue.

Victor. Victor Nikiforov.

He asks her if she sees the pink too and she is confused until she asks if it's like what she sees around Nishigori Takeshi. He can't say.

They both get the soulmate talk, known in Japan as "The Pink Haze," that night. Who would've guessed Yuuri to be an early bloomer?

He goes to Google in the fear, and tiny hope, that soulmates can have more than one partner. A chat forum both comforts him and pains him in the fact that multiple soulmates can happen, but is rare. It should excite him that someone so talented and amazing as _Victor_ is his soulmate, instead it makes him sick. How was he going to get to him?

"Yuuko," he calls the next day, "we need to practice!"

* * *

Victor Nikiforov is sixteen and the world is wondering if he has a soulmate at all. The skating club makes no comment.

"The Rosy Gaze," as the Russians put it so eloquently, shows up somewhere between their teens and early twenties.

His friends tell him over and over again that he had time, that it's not a competition. And that would have comforted him more if half of the senior division at the rink hadn't found someone by now; be it a long time friend who was always shrouded in it, a barista that nearly spilt their drink in surprise the first time, even reporters were soulmates for people they were supposed to objectively analyze and discuss.

Yakov always tells him it was best that he didn't have one, otherwise his potential, his gift, would go to waste. Victor shelves the idea of love and romance and soulmates, and spends his time with the closest thing to one he has: the ice.

* * *

Eleven years later, Victor has another gold medal around his neck and another victory that will go uncelebrated beyond the banquet.

If he had left the rink two minutes earlier he would've caught Yuri Plisetsky screaming at Katsuki Yuuri over his disastrous free skate. Instead he asks Yuuri if he wants a picture barely half an hour later, not even noticing the pink tinge around the edges of his sightline or how dejectedly Yuuri turns his back and skulks out of the arena.

He didn't know it at the time, but Yuuri's rosy gaze was practically tunnel vision- all he could see was Victor surrounded by a nearly opaque blurry haze of pink. So why couldn't the Russian tell what was happening? Why was he not being pulled into his arms, why did he not say anything? Japan's top skater would ask himself all the way back to the hotel room.

No, it's only at the banquet when the rosy gaze becomes apparent to Victor, and sixteen flutes of champagne too late for Yuuri. The Japanese man was currently on a pole with Chris, a far cry from the man who had pulled his rink mate Yuri into a dance off not fifteen minutes earlier. Shades of pink had flooded him and he was over the absolute _moon_ when Yuuri claimed him as his prize for winning the dance off; the two caught in something between a paso doble and a tango. It was a little unorthodox, but at least Victor would have a funny story for the press call tomorrow.

By the end of the night Yuuri is clinging to him and the entire senior division has their undivided attention on the two. He mentions a hot spring somewhere and to come visit on the off-season, his eyes only on Yuuri in sheer surprise, and slight panic, as his sightline is nearly pink. But the climax is four simple words and a very drunk man throwing himself into his arms:

" _Be my coach Victor!_ "

The rosy gaze shatters into glittering fragments and then all is clear again. The feeling is borderline orgasmic and he swears he _knows_ Yuuri feels it too underneath the liquid courage of the champagne. Victor gasps and nearly grabs Yuuri's hand as someone he recognizes as the younger man's coach drags him out of arm's reach with a scolding lecture on his tongue.

Now the banquet is in an uproar; the sponsors are disgusted by the behavior, the skaters are defensively pleading their case, and the coaches are exasperated and playing referee as Victor stands in the center of the ballroom in reverie.

"I've found you." he whispers in joyous disbelief. "I've _finally_ found you."

* * *

"I've lost him." Yuuri whispers in his hotel room the next morning. "I don't see it anymore."

Victor's win was all over the TV networks, they were in Sochi how could it not be, but instead of tunnel vision and familiar pink hues glinting on his eyes he saw everything for what it was. The dull ache in his chest and head didn't help the situation.

He googled if rejection of a soulmate was possible, and the answer was surprising. Many American celebrities had actually been sued over soulmate rejection and the emotional trauma that followed suit by their rejectee. The politics surrounding it were murky at worst and controversial at best, but there it was. Rejection was possible.

Yuuri quickly rationalizes Victor rejected him in the theory of soulmates and not on actual character- because what he did have to go on? Yes, that was it. Victor didn't want a soulmate, he rejected the idea of it, and his other half paid the price.

He could live with that, right?


	2. Six months, Two Weeks, and Four Days Later

"I can't live like this!" two souls cry out nearly five thousand miles apart.

Victor has been out of his mind since Sochi. Yuri Plisetsky believes this with every fiber of his being. The old man wants the failure to come to him, but the failure has dropped out of the season and is nowhere to be found.

"He's probably back in his hovel ready to crawl under a rock and die." Yuri calls from across the rink in an overextension. Victor chooses to ignore him as he breaks off for a late lunch.

In reality the sun is quickly setting as Yuuri is on his knees in the middle of Ice Castle Hasetsu's rink, Yuuko skating out to meet him in a rush of panic.

Stammi Vicino was supposed to be cathartic for Yuuri, he had warned Yuuko it may be difficult, but this? This was far, far worse.

"Yuuri! Yuuri, nande?!" she calls, kneeling by his side unsure if her touch with soothe or rattle him.

"Why didn't he want me, Yuuko?" his sobs come short and sputtered, yet his native tongue is rapid fire. "Did he know- was he ashamed- tell me why Victor didn't want me! Tell me, tell me, tell me-" his mantra continues as Yuuko rocks him back and forth, maternal instincts in check. They sit like that for a moment until the younger man complains that his leg has fallen asleep. Yuuko couldn't resist smiling as she helped him off the ice.

Yuuri's phone and glasses are nearly forgotten, left on a bench not too far from the barrier because none of the Nishigori triplets could prop it back up where they found it. The adults pay it no mind when Lutz has his phone, Loop his glasses, and Yuuri quickly dabs his eyes with a tissue Axel offers. No one needs to see him cry.

* * *

Only everyone ends up seeing him cry.

Victor is one of the first to get the link (multiple times) the next morning; Chris asks what happened, Mila implores him to contact the younger man, Yuri just brags his first theory wasn't far off.

 **Japan's Katsuki Y. Suffers Emotional Breakdown Attempting V. Nikiforov's FS "Stammi Vicino."** the BuzzFeed Sports article reads in bold font, surprisingly somber.

Victor watches it with apprehension, they don't mention where the breakdown occurs, but the song is not even four minutes and the video is five minutes long so he only hopes he gets through the program.

To his disappointment Yuuri only makes it to the two and a quarter minute mark, and doing quite well for his lack of quads, before he sinks to his knees and the camera is quickly dropped. Someone, a girl, is shouting to him and Yuuri's response is heartbreaking to hear even if Victor cannot understand a word of it. He wonders briefly if Yuuri read the translation and knew where he had stopped in the text. The camera is recovered and peeks around the opening in the barrier to reveal a woman holding Yuuri like a child, his shoulders heaving and shirt riding up to reveal the tummy he had gained since qualifiers.

Below the video, there is a translation:

-Yuuri! Yuuri, why?  
-Why did he not want me, Yuuko? Did he know, was he ashamed, tell me why Victor did not want me! Tell me, tell me, tell me etc.

And with that Victor is not only broken-hearted but also furious for Yuuri as he reads through the comments.

 _-Is he delusional?_  
- _Does he think Victor is in love with him?_  
-Everyone knows Victor doesn't have a SM.  
-Pathetic little pig.  
-And HE'S Japan's top skater?  
-Don't worry Yuri Plisetsky will kick his ass if he comes back so Victor doesn't have to.

Victor is stoic when he begins throwing whatever clean clothes he has in his suitcase and calling for a taxi to the airport. He leaves Yakov a quick message of apology and three hours later he's on his way to Hasetsu.

* * *

"How is this okay? None of this is okay!" Yuuri yells at Nishigori Takeshi in the rink that afternoon.

"Maybe this is a good thing," Takeshi scratches the back of his head, "maybe Victor and you can sort this all out like adults. I'm really, really sorry about this Yuuri. I didn't know they'd posted it. We can take it down-"

Yuuko frowns. "The damage is done, it's gone viral, for all we know Victor's seen it." Yuuri groans and covers his ears. "You and I both know Yuuri is Victor's soulmate. He never knew about the pink haze until Hiroko and Mama gave us the talk. But he saw it. Like I saw it in you." she nudges him in the ribs.

"I'm not doubting you I'm just saying maybe Victor doesn't know. Yuuri did he mention anything, anything at all?"

"No nothing! What's even worse is I didn't even go to the banquet- all I remember is waking up in the hotel room to the local news station and a clip of Victor was on and everything was... The same. For the first time in eleven years I didn't see a pink haze. Do you know how hard that is?" Yuuri asks softly.

Minako bursts through the door screeching something the three cannot catch quickly enough. "-IS MISSING! HE DIDN'T SHOW UP FOR PRACTICE!"

"Eh?" the young man pales.

"Yakov was mum but Victor's thinking of taking a gap season apparently." she breathlessly rushed down the stairs towards the rink. "The airport is confirming that Victor was catching a flight but wouldn't say where! Guess we'll have to wait for an Instagram update." she chewed at her lip. "Do you think he'd confront you?"

"I can't see him doing that." Yuuko pipes up.

"Mm." Yuuri agrees, "We will have to wait it out. I have to get back home, please tell me if you hear anything. Ja ne!"

The reality is Yuuri had enough and just wanted to go home and sleep and pretend this never happened.

* * *

The next morning is snowy and bizarre and the guests joke about an east wind blowing in some sort of omen. Yuuri's mother mentions a new guest will arrive later that day and to shovel the driveway before they arrive. Suddenly a poodle jumps across the threshold and nearly knocks Yuuri over as it darts towards the baths.

"Makkachin, wait!" someone calls for the dog in English, but it pays them no mind, so the stranger darts into the inn. "I'm sorry, I'm looking for Katsuki-"

"Victor?" Yuuri's voice is minuscule, but eyes are wide with panic.

In joggers and a Russian Skating Federation zip up stands the root of Yuuri's happiness, pain, and suffering. "Hello, Yuuri." he takes a tentative step. "Can we talk? I just took a thirteen hour flight here to you, you can't really say no." Victor tries to joke; he's terrible.

He swallows thickly, the words caught in his throat, so he nods instead.

The Russian drops his suitcase at his side and sits gingerly. "I saw the video- and I'm not mad!" he adds quickly before Yuuri can protest or worse. "I just want to know... What do you remember about the night of the Grand Prix Final?"

"...What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said. What do you remember after the awards?"

"Your rink mate nearly breaking the bathroom stall just to tell me to retire." Yuuri bites out, "The Russian Punk, to be specific." Plisetsky had some explaining to do Victor decided, "And you asking if I wanted a commemorative photo." his smile is sad if not a little mocking, "After that it's all blacked out I assume I slept through it all since I didn't go to the banquet-"

"Yes you did." Victor deadpans with a cross of his arms. "You were there the entire night."

"I would've remembered."

"You were drunk. Smashed, even. We counted _sixteen flutes_ of champagne in the corner after the banquet was over."

Yuuri blanches, "I don't believe you." and before he knows it Victor's iPhone is in his face with a folder that reads GPF Sochi Banquet on the screen.

"Look at these before you say anything else." Victor tries to smile, but he thinks it's more of a smirk. "Also inside are photos from Chris and Yuri."

As Yuuri swipes through his whimpers turn into groans turn into outright screeching at what he did- not to mention that he didn't _remember_.

"I saw the rosy gaze all that night Yuuri." Victor rises from his perch, finally closing the gap between them. "You knew the whole time, didn't you? That I was your soulmate? You saw it too?"

Yuuri avoids the aquamarine eyes searing into his temples, and the nimble fingers brushing against his cheek. "...I've known for eleven years, Victor." he squeezes his eyes shut as if he will disappear if he focuses hard enough. "Yuuko showed me your first Grand Prix Final on tape d uring practice and the pink haze crept in. I thought it was a trick, but when I watched it again the next day it was more prominent. I've lived with the equivalent of near-blinding love every time you've appeared since I was fourteen. I kept a poster of you in my room to assure myself that I wasn't losing my mind up until a couple years ago. I had always loved skating as a child but _you_ , you are the reason I came this far. ...Because I knew we'd never meet otherwise."

"...I never knew someone could be so selfish." Victor's voice is hollow, and the hot tears are slipping down his cheeks. "I thought, all my life, I was meant to be alone. ...You could have contacted me, your parents and Yakov could have arranged something, _anything_. You could have been training with me all this time, but you stayed here- Y-you passed by me in the halls at Sochi and never said a word! You knew for _eleven years-?!_ " he stops himself there before he can't control it.

"But it doesn't matter because I knew you would have rejected me! I knew it because you did!" Yuuri cries openly now, "I woke up the next day and the pink haze was gone!"

"That's why I'm here, I saw the video, I didn't reject you! I could never reject you Yurachka!" the Russian clutches Yuuri's hands like a vice, sparking a current. "You asked me to be your coach and it all shattered like glass- it was blinding. That's endgame isn't it? When you finally find your soulmate?"

The younger man shakes his head. "What? No that's not how it works-!"

"Uh, yes it is." Minako calls from the back, exceptionally pissed at the scene before her. "The pink haze is like a reminder that yes this person is your soulmate. Once a major event solidifies your relationship the haze disappears since it's no longer needed. Some people call the experience borderline euphoria. Which Yuuri would have mistaken for the alcohol anyway. Did your mom casually forget that part?" she takes her bottle of sake and heads for the baths, Hiroko chastising her all the way outside.

"Would I travel all this way if I had rejected you? Does that make sense, Yurachka?" Victor softly asks.

Yuuri shakes his head, the blush creeping into his cheeks. "...So I did all that huh?"

The older man pulls Yuuri into a hug and under his chin because it feels so _right_ and _real_. "The fact that you genuinely don't remember is fascinating." and Yuuri only groans at that as a soft chuckle ripples through the older man's chest.

"Yuuri! Look at what Russian Yuri posted!" a chorus of three little girls call from the entrance on the inn, their parents trailing behind.

"I don't usually post things like this." Yuuri reads from the Instagram description. "But if the old man doesn't come back to Russia, with Katsuki in tow, I will do it myself and not as nicely. This is the proof that Katsuki is Victor's SM." the video was off-centered and time stamped at nearly midnight of last year.

From the perspective over Victor's shoulder you could see the Russian being groped by some strange man nearly naked with a tie around his head and _holy crap that's him_ \- mumbling in Japanese about the onsen and visiting and the dance off. And then he blurts those four simple words again and it's like an out of body experience how warm and full and breathless Yuuri is right now. He wishes he had been sober enough to remember, but this will do.

"You have your proof." Victor whispers into his hair, "So what do we do now?"

"...Everyone's reporting you're taking a break." Yuuri murmurs. "Do you want to take a break?"

He snorts softly, pressing a kiss to the crown of Yuuri's head. "Do you?"

"No, no I want to get back out there. But not without you." the younger man pulls back to look Victor in the eye. "Will you be my coach, Victor?"

Victor cups Yuuri's face in his hands, his thumbs padding at newly wet cheeks. "Yes. Yes, absolutely."

* * *

They announce Victor's coaching duties and Yuuri's return and their soulmate confirmation in a matter of fifteen minutes the following afternoon. The figure skating world quickly loses its mind; soon after magazines, news outlets, and the fans (oh god the _fans_ ) are crashing social media like it's the end of the world. They also confirm they will stay in Hasetsu, which booms in tourists almost overnight.

Victor reserves Ice Castle for himself and Yuuri (and for about a week Yuri Plisetsky when he can no longer stand Yakov) all season with no camera access. The world of figure skating waits with bated breath for the return of Katsuki Yuuri and the rebirth of Victor Nikiforov.

When the Cup of China arrives and Victor kisses Yuuri on international television the media has an absolute field day to the point the pair are snuck out the back of the arena to the employee entrance of their hotel. The Rostelecom Cup is no different, only this time Victor shields Yuuri from the cameras and fits them both for professional grade earplugs; blue and magenta, respectively.

But it all pays off when he takes gold at the Grand Prix Final, barely edging out Plisetsky after the free program. But a win is a win, and Victor has never been so happy about losing a world record as he feels for the box in his pocket.

Yuuri barely notices when his soulmate starts skating out to the podium. It actually takes Yuri's slight nudge to the hip for him to look down and realize Victor is on one knee in front of him with _that_ signature blue box and a stunningly simple gold engagement ring. He nearly falls off the podium in shock, but Victor winds up steadying him and sitting him on the edge with a laugh.

"Katsuki Yuuri." of course Victor is mic'ed so the entire arena can hear. "I have wanted to do this since the day we truly met." Yuri and JJ smirk as their friends laugh from the sidelines. "But we had to outdo the kiss, and this is the only way." the crowd laughs and Yuuri is fighting back tears. "I know being soulmates kind of takes the fun out of it, but," he puts a finger to his lips to hush the crowd before presenting the box like an offering. "Will you marry me, Yurachka?"

Yuuri can barely breathe let alone talk so he just nods enthusiastically before throwing himself into his soulmate, now fiancé's, arms and landing onto the rink below. The crowd is cheering and their friends are skating out onto the rink, some in tears while others create the perfect Instagram shot.

The ring fits like a glove and Yuuri can't help but wiggle his finger as if it'll disappear at a moment's notice. The night could not be more perfect, until he realizes the night is still young and the banquet has yet to begin.

"Yuuri!" Victor waves to him from the dance floor not two hours later. "Come on, this is your engagement party too! Dance with your fiancé!" of course Victor planned everything in the event that he won. Because Victor was the kind of soulmate that would do anything and everything to please his lover. One of the many things Yuuri loved about him.

Has his smile always formed into a heart? Yuuri wonders as he makes his way to the dance floor into Victor's waiting arms. Will wonders ever cease?

"Not when you're by my side." Victor answers with a kiss to his forehead. "Stammi vicino, Yurachka." 

Yuuri smiles as an arm snakes around his waist and another takes his hand, his ring glinting under the lights. "Non te ne andare, Victor."

_Fin_


End file.
